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A second wind

Jane Gentry's Story

With 30-plus years under her belt helping CEOs find their way, the next challenge is always the one that drives Jane Gentry.

 

Jane Gentry wanted to be an actress. After getting her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kent State University, she went on to get a Master of Fine Arts in Acting Performance from The University of Pittsburgh.

When she initially told her father about her decision to switch majors and pursue a career in the entertainment world, he was less than impressed.  

“I’m not paying for that,” Gentry recalls of the conversation. In fact, she said he would rather see her haul garbage.

So there she was, face to face with real world consequences and decisions to make. After putting herself through her undergraduate program, was awarded a full-ride and a role as a teaching assistant to the conservatory graduate program. But her debt, like so many other college students who pursue continuing education, was mounting. To help lessen the burden, she answered an ad in the newspaper’s classified section (you read that correctly) and landed an interview for a sales job with the VP of sales for an exhibit house.

The conversation was one she would never forget. “He told me that being in sales is hard; that people get rejected all day, every day. And to make it harder, people are not always honest with you. I looked at him and said, ‘Have you ever not been able to sell an exhibit because you were too cute or not cute enough? Or because you were too short or sang in the wrong key? I think I have the handling rejection thing down.’”

The transition gave her a second wind—an opportunity to pursue the dream she was chasing and not have to worry about being buried in debt. Somewhere along the way, Jane discovered she was pretty good at the whole sales thing.

Click here for more in Video 1: "How My Time As An Actress Prepared Me To Be A CEO Advisor"

You can fast-forward the clock to the part of the story where while running a sales organization for another exhibit house she was diagnosed with the first of several autoimmune diseases—a condition that attacks the healthy cells of your organs and tissues by mistake. During the process, her doctor asked a question that chilled her, “Do you want to live a long time?”

Working in such a fast-paced grind, where the road is your biggest ally, was not healthy. The job, her doctor succinctly said, was not conducive to his previous question. It was 1999 when Jane quit her job and started her consulting practice. Her employer allowed her to take a few clients who were willing to let her help manage their business. The next thing she knew, the offers to consult with other companies in the industry poured in, which in turn, led to her helping develop their teams.

Click here for more in Video 2: "My Career Path Pivot...Growing Into My Passion"

Twenty years down the road, and Jane Gentry & Company advises a number of high-growth organizations on improving company valuation and profitability, establishing organizational clarity, developing strong leaders and leadership cultures, and identifying competitive differentiators. Her client list includes the likes of Assurant, The Home Depot, Milliken, Philips, Coca-Cola, Leidos Healthcare, Mercedes Benz, Stryker, GlaxoSmithKline, and others. 

“Guiding principles are so critical to an organization. Many decisions could be made faster by asking the question, “Does this decision/activity get us closer to our goal or not?”

“Looking back, I am not sure if I was really brave or really dumb. I guess I just didn’t know any better, so I quit my job and started my own business.  After more than 20 years, things can get stale. I was telling a friend that I felt kind of unsettled. He told me that he thought I was bored. ‘I think you're just putting different lipstick on the same pig.’ Shortly afterward, I was recruited to run a couple of companies that were equity backed in the experiential marketing space. If you are in business long enough, you have moments where you think ‘Now what? What’s my next act? At that point, it made sense to do something different.”

Click here for more in Video 3: "Now What... What's My Next Act"

Today, Jane Gentry leverages her experience in both running companies and consulting in large enterprises to leaders in mid-market organizations, providing the resources needed to drive growth.

Her toolkit includes rigorous, data driven, validated diagnostics that help provide a clear strategy direction. She is a regular on the speaking circuit, lending her insights to high-profile meetings from Canada to the Czech Republic on topics like relational intelligence, inspirational leadership and selling value.

Click here for more in Video 4:
"Can't Fix What You Can't Measure - Leading vs Lagging Indicators - Measure The Meaningful

“I ask the questions that help people see what’s changing and what needs to be changed.”

Here is more of our conversation with Jane Gentry in Q&A: 

Video Content Section

Here are a series of videos where Jane takes a deep dive into her experiences and you get her first-hand feedback on real-life situations.

Video 1:

How My Time As An Actress

Prepared Me for

Being A CEO Advisor

 
Video 2: 

My Career Path Pivot

Growing Into My Passion

 
Video 3:

Now What...

What's My Next Act

 
 Video 4:

Can't Fix What You Can't Measure

Leading vs Lagging Indicators

Measure The Meaningful 

 
Video 5:

When Fighting The Urge For

Taking Action Can Benefit You

 
Video 6:

What To Do

When You're Not Sure

What To Do

 
Video 7:

The Missing Skills

Companies Are Looking For...

How To Build Them Internally

 

 
Video 8:

Leverage Perspective for Faster

Discovery and Action

 

 
Video 9:

Using The Game of Chess...

Get Your Career and Company To

The Next Level Faster

 

Reach Out To Jane Gentry

linkedin.com/in/janemgentry 

 

Email: [email protected]